“Between the first and the last, I played some really solid golf,” said David Hearn.

Bookend bogeys can’t mar Hearn's PGA debut

Published: Thursday, August 08, 2013 | 1:58 p.m.

By Stan Awtrey, PGA.com Contributor

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Making a bogey on the first hole isn’t the best way to start a round of golf, let alone a major championship. But that’s the way David Hearn made his PGA Championship debut on Thursday.

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Turns out there wasn’t another misstep until the final hole. Hearn, one of two Canadians in the field, shot a 4-under 66 in the first round, leaving him only one shot behind early leader Jim Furyk.

“Between the first and the last, I played some really solid golf,” Hearn said. “Obviously a little disappointed with the finish, but after than bogey on 1, got a birdie right back on No. 2 and that kind of got me back in the direction pretty quickly.”

Hearn made the turn at 2 under and picked up back-to-back birdies at No. 10 and No. 11. He approach at No. 10 was about four feet from the hole, and he smoked a 3-iron to with about 15 feet at No. 11. Hearn made a nice eight-foot putt to save par at No. 12 and picked up another birdie at the 15th when a 9-iron left him a four-foot putt, which he made.

Hearn struck a poor tee shot on No. 18 and had to punch out of the rough. His approach was 12 feet from the hole, but he missed the putt to finish at 4 under.

“Overall, I played pretty solid and drove the ball great most of the day,” he said. “Just the one bad tee shot. But I think even Tiger [Woods] last week, winning by seven, I’m sure he would tell you there’s a shot here or there that he could have done a little better.”

Hearn showed he still had some momentum from the John Deere Classic, where he lost on the fourth extra hole of a playoff to young Jordan Spieth. Hearn also drew from a pro-Canadian crowd that seemed to grow as he worked his way around the course.